Hello everyone! This is another one of those 'Harry has a twin' fanfictions. But even though it is a very popular (overrated?!) idea, I wanted to write one myself, with a different take. For example, the character bashing is just not cool. And I plan to not repeat that in my story. This chapter is a RE-WRITTEN version of the previous one, as I was not satisfied with it.

When I wrote this chapter, the original story had come up to 11 published chapters. I plan on re-writing all off them. Just some 22k words to go!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, and if you have any questions or ideas or anything - Give me a PM, leave a review or pop over to my Tumblr (link in my bio) and ask me there.

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter ain't mine.

Extended Summary

[I'm basically just clearing up any doubts you may have]

Harry Potter has a twin brother - Harden Potter.

Harry was wrongly believed to be squib, so he gets dropped off at the Dursleys. But Arcturus Black whisks him away. Meanwhile, Harden lives with his godfather, Remus Lupin in the Potter country house. Harry is not going to be some insanely talented magical protégé with a hundred vaults to his name. Harry is going to be a smart lad, one who has many differing opinions from his twin. He's going to have his flaws, he's going fail but he's going to work on all of that. Harden Potter is not going to be some idiot with a god-complex. He is going to have rather bias opinions in the beginning. He will be rash, but he's going to have some MAJOR character development as the story progresses. Dumbledore isn't some manipulative evil dark-lord in hiding. Voldemort...is Voldemort.

That's the major outline for the story. Apart from that, I've got one thing to say. In the beginning espicially in the first five chapters or so, my writing is quite amaturish. Please forgive that, as I hadn't gotten the true "element" for the story in. Don't worry, it gets better :p

~HARRY POTTER AND THE TWINNING~

Through out history, the Potter family was shown as the ideal, Pure-blood family. You may be confused here, because perhaps the Potter you crossed paths with was nothing like the other Pure-blood snobs. Let me correct myself, the Potter's are the ideal Pure-blood family. Not the ideal Blood-supremacist family.

The Potter's were always a very notable family. They were rich and powerful, but they were kindhearted.

Henry Potter was one of them. Henry had two children – both sons. Fleamont was the oldest, followed by Charlus who was younger by six years.

Henry was an accomplished wizard, he was a potioneer, a skilled duelist and a respected member of the Wizengamont. He was known to be a strong supporter for muggle rights, and this upset a lot of other supremacist families. Not that he cared. As per custom, Fleamont would follow in his footsteps.

Many wizarding families like the Potter's paid no heed to the second son. They could whatever they wished, as long as they did not sully the family name.

However as said before, the Potter family was not like all others. Henry and Genevieve made sure to show equal attention to both their sons.

Fleamont took more after his mother. He was tall and skinny, with prominent cheekbones and a rather pointy chin. His demeanor was always calm and collected. He was an intelligent young man and would be the perfect heir for his father, if not for one thing...

He really did not care about family affairs. Really, all he wanted to do was become a potioneer and fiddle away to his heart's content.

Charlus on the other hand, was shorter than his brother in looks and took after their father. His dark brown eyes were not hidden behind spectacles like his brother, he like to keep his messy black hair short and manageable. His frame was leanly muscled, and unlike his brother he knew family affairs were important and he was also shit at potions. To say the least.

Charlus was not hot-headed. But he was also not as composed as could be. All of this, plus that know-it-all smirk, was what made one Dorea Black fall in love with him later in his life. Fleamont, meanwhile would go on to marry Euphemia Greengrass. A friend of his, that he would realize, almost too late – that he liked in a way normal friends did not like each other.

But before all that happened – Let us rewind a bit.

Both Potter's were sorted into Gryffindor house upon their arrival at Hogwarts. Fleamont would leave with exemplary scores in all his classes – especially Potions and Dueling. Charlus would follow, six years later, minus the exemplary scores in Potions. Fleamont had his heart set on a future career in Potions. Henry did not mind – as long as he balanced his future Head of house duties well.

Fleamont knew one day he would become the Lord of his house and he would have to grudgingly accept the position. What he did not anticipate however – was the sudden death of his father, thanks to a broom crash. So, a week after his twenty-third birthday – much earlier than he expected, he accepted the position of the Lord of The Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter.

Meanwhile, Charlus had graduated from Hogwarts a year ago and had been recruited into a dueling circuit almost immediately.

He loved dueling, and was content with his future career choice, which was going to be a professional dueling contestant. He was aiming for the big leagues. He knew he would not be happy with himself if he did not make it to the English National dueling circuit.

However, he had to cut his training short and return back home due to the death of his father. He had planned that after his brother's inauguration as Lord Potter, he would return to his training in Lundy.

Things did not go as planned because the rise of a budding Dark Lord named Grindelwald shut down all possible ideas of leaving his mother and brother home, while he trained in some remote island miles away. He knew that should the need arise, Fleamont was more than capable of defending their home…But something still unsettled him.

Some time later, the situation of the Wizarding World only worsened. To change the normally morose mood a little, Fleamont decided to go ahead with his plans to marry Euphemia.

The news was on the front page of every British newspaper, and people celebrated the union of two important families. Both the Potter's and the Greengrass families were very much what you could call 'Public Oriented.'

They cared not what their peers in the elite Pure-blood society thought, but of the people they catered too. However, all this good news reached the ears of one Gellert Grindelwald, and thus painted a target on the Potter's back.

Grindelwald knew that attacking the Potter's was not possible. Wizards and Witches born in the Potter family had their magic groomed by their elders from a young age.

By the time they began Hogwarts, at the customary age of 11, they had firm hold over their basic magic, unlike most others that age.

Furthermore, was their residence. Potter Castle was made with smooth grey bricks, it had three different wings and was massive. The middle wing rose slightly higher than the other two, with battlements on the top.

Inside the middle wing, more commonly known as the main wing, the first thing you would find was the Entrance Hall. Moving past the Entrance Hall was the Ballroom. The sheer size of it would surely intimidate you. It had a capacity of five thousand people, and stretched from one end of the left wing, through the main wing and to the other end of the right wing.

Apart from the little space the entrance hall took at the front of the main wing, the ballroom stretched to a spacious deck all the way at the back of the house. All around it had small sets of doors that led outside into the rose garden.

The main wing also housed the formal sitting room and the formal dining room on the second floor, followed by the library on the third floor. The library had a similar design to the ballroom. It stretched from one end of the Castle to the other. In between there were at least a dozen different entrances. There were large bay windows dotted around to allow lighting, they had cushions on the sills so you could sit comfortably.

Next was the family lounge and dining area on the fourth floor. As mentioned before, the main win rose above the other two wings – slightly. This space was taken by the kitchen on the fifth floor. The sixth and last floor had a large duelling room, a potions room and an Astronomy room.

The second floor of the left and right wings was mainly free space taken up by seating area, and two bedrooms. The third floor had the joint library, the fourth floor had smaller Potions and duelling area, while the fifth floor had the main bedrooms.

Additionally, the left wing had a large study on the fourth floor, as well as a large bedroom it also had a private swimming pool on the fifth floor. The left wing was the quarters of the Lord and Lady of the House.

Meanwhile the right wing also had the large study – but it was more for academics than anything. Instead of a single large bedroom, it had two bedrooms on the fifth floor. Instead of a private swimming pool, it had a luxurious nursery.

And it was not even the only residence for the Potter's. They could also go to Potter Hall, a recent construction of their father's in Kent.

There was an apartment building Fleamont owned. Also located in Kent. He used to retreat there whenever Henry's lectures on the Lordship became too much for him.

A very recent addition was a run-down old cottage Fleamont had just bought. Together – to bide their time Fleamont and Charlus planned to turn it into a luxurious beach house as it was located right in Carbis Bay, Cornwall.

News reached the Potter's that Grindelwald was interested in them. Charlus decided to talk to his good friend, Dorea's older brother Arcturus Black.

Arcturus was not really Dorea's older brother, he was her cousin. He had an elder brother Regulus, and a younger sister, Cassiopeia. Dorea had a younger brother, Pollux. Even though they were cousins, they considered each other siblings. All except Regulus.

Regulus was fifteen when Arcturus was born. He never seemed to love him, but he did care for him. Two years later Cassiopeia was born, and Regulus showed zero affection to her. When he was eighteen, his uncle's children Dorea and Pollux were born a year apart from each other.

When he was twenty-four, his youngest and last cousin Marius was born. Had Charlus not been extremely close to both Arcturus and Dorea, he would have not known the rest.

For the most part Regulus gave some time of his day to Arcturus, completely ignored Cassiopeia and went out of his way to hate on all three of his younger cousins.

By the time Marius was five and showed no signs of magic, the family had started to subconsciously shun him. The final nail in the coffin was when he was eleven and received no Hogwarts letter. He was kicked out the same night with nothing except the clothes he wore.

Arcturus, Cassiopeia, Dorea and Pollux were heartbroken. Marius had been the baby of the group and they had all bore witness to him being dragged down from his bedroom and tossed out onto the street.

Regulus was joyous, and after that his younger siblings and cousins completely shut him out of their life. He did not seem to care.

Not long after, he joined Grindelwald as one of his earliest supporters. He was seldom seen after that. And then came the news that Lord Sirius Black III had been killed after refusing to stand with Grindelwald. His murder was quiet and perfectly executed. The public was none the wiser.

But Arcturus was incensed. He dropped everything that he was doing and went after Grindelwald, that had been two weeks ago. His family was worried, Charlus was worried, Fleamont was worried seeing Charlus worry, Euphemia was worried seeing Fleamont worry, and their mother was worried seeing both her sons worry.

The next week started normally. Early in the morning Charlus and Fleamont apparated to Cornwall to work on their project. Euphemia, Dorea and Genevieve stayed at home.

It was later in the day when Charlus decided to apparate to Diagon Alley for a quick drink. Even though they were using house elves and magic to renovate the cottage, Charlus enjoyed doing some things the muggle way. He had discovered painting and sanding – and he loved it.

He wiped the sweat away from his forehead as he entered the pub. People around him scattered slightly, some bowing as they did. He was after all the younger brother of Lord Potter. Maybe he should not have come, after all a war was going on.

As he took a sip from the cold Pumpkin Fizz he ordered, an ethereal eagle patronus flew into the pub. He immediately recognized it as his mother's. It came and stopped next to him. It spoke a single word. At the time little did he know it would turn his life upside down.

"Help."

The next day the news came; announcing the death of the Dowager Lady Genevieve Potter. Charlus left to find Arcturus and help him the day after

Eventually the war came to a stop with Albus Dumbledore defeating Grindelwald. Both Arcturus and Charlus had been injured, Arcturus had recovered. Charlus meanwhile, had been on bedrest for two days before he could see a healer.

He did not share the diagnosis with anybody – he lied. During the time Regulus served Grindelwald he apparently gave him some family spells. Charlus had been hit with a slow-acting blood curse. When the time came his blood would literally turn into jelly and he would drop dead.

That was another thing – Regulus had been killed during the war. Arcturus was now Head of House. Changes were taking place in their lives, and they were all glad for it.

The marriage of Charlus Potter and Dorea Black was a grand affair since the war had stopped. Arcturus moved to France for some time and fell in love with Melania MacMillian, they got married soon after.

Eventually Potter Castle was vacated, with Charlus and Dorea moving to their new house in Devon. While unfortunately for some reason Fleamont and Euphemia had hit a rough patch in their marriage and had decided to retreat to the newly renovated beach house in Cornwall. Fleamont had decided to give the Lordship to Charlus, had either of their parents been alive it would not have happened.

Not long after that, Pollux got married to Irma Crabbe. They soon had a son, Alphard Black.
Charlus and Dorea also had a son – William Abraham Potter.

Two years after William, Arcturus and Melania too had a son, Orion Black. Both Fleamont and Euphemia had long given up the prospect of having children. It was during this time that Pollux and Irma had another child, Walburga Black.

Soon after that, Arcturus and Melania had another child, a son who they named Cygnus Black. Surprising news came from Fleamont and Euphemia and soon they were also blessed with a baby boy – James Fleamont Potter.

The Potter's decided to move to Potter Manor to be closer to each other again and so that little William had some company, even though he was eight and hated bawling babies. Also around this time, Orion and Walburga also had a son, Sirius Black. And a year later he was followed by Regulus.

Time seemed to fly by and before they knew it, William had graduated top his entire year, and was now training to be an Unspeakable.

Everyone was married, and some were now turning into Grandparents. Cygnus had married the much sought after Druella Rosier. They had three girls, Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa. All of whom were older than their cousins.

Dorea had wanted to get William married, but his hectic schedule as a fast rising junior Unspeakable required him to almost always be at the Ministry.

During this time, Albus Dumbledore had been appointed as the new Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Sirius and James had entered Hogwarts in the same year and had become fast friends. William had gotten a promotion at work, and it allowed him to have some free time with his family.

However all was not well. There were whispers of a new Dark Lord emerging and no one liked it. Or so it seemed really.

Walburga had turned into an absolute devil after the birth of Regulus, while Orion who had always been the quiet type – turned into an absolute recluse and went on long 'Business Trips' to get away from home.

Unsurprisingly, Sirius had a major falling out with his mother, which caused him to run away to the Potter's.

Dorea had scared the daylights out of her niece for that. Charlus decided to move out from Potter Manor and back into the cottage in Devon soon after.

The 'whispers' were no longer whispers and soon Magical Britain was at the edge of another war. And here was where the happy times came to an end.

James decided to marry Lily Evans, a muggleborn he fell in love with. He had the blessings of his parents, but Charlus was conflicted slightly.

Of course, the unlikely marriage between a Pure-blood and a muggleborn caused some tension but nobody really cared. There was a Dark Lord around after all.

Hardly a week after the wedding, a Dragon-Pox epidemic claimed the lives of Fleamont, Euphemia, Dorea, Irma and Melania.

Just about a year later, while on break, William was caught in a scuffle with 'Death Eater's' he was outnumbered and killed. The news came soon after Lily went into labor.

And very soon, the Potter family had two new additions – The oldest, Hardwin James Potter and the youngest, Harden William Potter.

Charlus was touched at the naming choice for the younger son.

The Potter's and the Black's had not been close after Sirius ran away. Not to mention both Arcturus and Charlus had become recluses after the Epidemic and the death of William, Arcturus' godson.

When the Prophecy came, Charlus immediately offered up Potter Castle to Lily and James. However, it seemed that Dumbledore had other plans, as he already bought a cottage for them to hide away in. James and Lily were kind people, that sometimes did not know how to say no. So they moved to the cottage instead.

A few days after the Fidilius Charm was set up, Charlus died. The curse had finally caught up. And a while later, both James and Lily were killed. Neither could be informed of the others death.
Charlus died with the though that James and Lily would continue to live in hiding whilst training their sons to defeat the new Dark Lord. James and Lily died with the thought that Charlus would be there as a mentor for both their sons.

No one really knew what happened that night in Godric's Hollow. The Magical folk knew that a family had been torn apart. The muggle folk knew a gas leak had made two boy's orphans.

Godric's Hollow, All Hallows Eve -1981.
Potter Residence.

"C'mon Harry, cut your uncle Pads some slack!" The handsome dark-haired youth grumbled as he handed the child to his father.

"At least he's keeping you busy." James Potter remarked as he took his oldest son from his friend, Sirius Black.

"Are you corrupting my child again, Black?" A pretty redhead said in a mock-stern voice as she entered the room with another baby in hand.

"Lily how could you accuse me of such a thing?!" Sirius said dramatically.

Lily smiled as she sat down on the sofa, handing the child to James.

"I wish we could go outside with the boys, I think we'll just dress them up and take some pictures of them." James looked at his wife to see what she thought.

Lily nodded. "Dumbledore said we shouldn't step out without an Order guard."

Sirius scoffed. "An Order guard won't keep Voldie away! If he assigned a couple of Auror's instead…" Sirius trailed off with a shrug.

James grinned. "You're only saying that so you could be here all the time."

Sirius grinned back at him. "You know me Prongs!" James settled down on the carpet, his head leaning against Lily's lap on the sofa.

"I can't wait for this to finish. It's been too long since either of us saw Charlus." Lily said with a sigh.

James smiled at her as he took her hand. "You know Uncle Charlus will be fine, holed up in the Castle.

Sirius smirked. "I don't know why you worry; the man can take care of himself."

Lily smirked at him. "Just you wait until he hears you call him a hard-ass." Sirius paled at the thought.

"And that's my cue to leave!" He said getting up from the armchair. "I'll check on Pete and bring him along for the photos." Another good friend, Remus Lupin was unfortunately away on an Order mission.

Sirius left the house as he pulled on his well-worn leather jacket. He adjusted the wool-lined collar as he pulled on a helmet and straddled his bike.

He revved the engine a few times before he pulled out of the driveway. He drove down to a secluded street before speeding up and flying up into the sky. He continued at a steady speed and in less than thirty minutes he was flying above the area of East Finchley in the East End area of London.

He made sure to land in a secluded area with the Disillusionment Charm still firmly in place. He drove up the street to a nice-looking block of flats.

This was where Peter's safehouse was. Dumbledore had bought it around the same time as James and Lily went into hiding.

He winked at a woman exiting the building, causing her to blush. The sound of his heavy boots was muffled by the thickly carpeted staircase as he made his way to the third floor. He knocked on the door – no answer. He shrugged to himself, maybe Peter was working a long shift at the Ministry today.

He let himself into the flat, the wards recognized him. Peter's house was a nice-looking place. It was neat and clean, with one bedroom and two bathrooms, a hall and a kitchen.

Sirius walked into the kitchen and retrieved some licorice wands from the fridge-thing. He kicked his boots off and plopped down onto a grey sofa.

He waited and waited and waited. After forty minutes had passed, he knew something was wrong. He ran out of the flat and down to the street below. He barely had time to pull his helmet on before he jumped onto his bike and sped away. He just hoped there were not any muggles staring out their window's…If there were, then the Ministry could fine him later.

He flew at full speed back to Godric's Hollow. As he neared the Potter's house, he saw smoke rising from the rows of houses. Fearing the worst, he pushed his bike forward. He nearly lost his balance when he the wreckage of the house. Half the house had collapsed in on itself, starting from where the nursery was located.

He threw his helmet off and ran to the front door; the living room had no sign of disturbance. But the wands of both Potter's were still on the sofa. He ran out to the corridor that led to the staircase. He staggered back as he neared the stairs. James was there, his body still and unmoving, his glasses askew and his hazel eyes lifeless.

"No!" "Shit James, please no, no, no..." He reached his friends body and checked for a pulse, nothing. He cupped James' face with both hands and looked into his eyes trying to find a sign of life. He grabbed a hold of the black jumper his friend was wearing and started sobbing. "Shit, fuck James, please..."

That is when he heard a wail from upstairs. The boys! Maybe by some miracle they were still alive – and Lily! Lily had to be alive! With one last look at James' body, he bounded up the stairs…and nearly fell over his feet when he saw Lily lying on the ground. His chest was hurting painfully now. The unshed tears in his eyes fell on the soft waves of Lily's hair as he moved the strands aside, only too see lifeless green eyes staring blankly at him.

Another cry roused him from his shock, and he turned to face the two cots, To his immense surprise, and relief, both babies were there! Unharmed? Not exactly. Harden was the who was crying, he had a nasty looking bruise right in the center of his forehead. Harry was quiet – and for a second, he feared the worst, but a twitch of his little hand assured him otherwise.

He picked Harden up and gently rocked him side to side to soothe him.

"Fuck, I thought you were gone forever."

He did not want to try anything on the bruise yet, he'd let a Healer take a look at that. He walked over to his godson's cot and balked at the bloodstains on the sheet. He put Harden down, and carefully lifted Harry up. The blood was coming out of a scar on his forehead. Again – he did not want to try anything on the scar with magic, so he dug into his jeans pocket and retrieved a crumpled but clean tissue to wipe the blood away.

"I'll let a Healer look at you hmm?" "Don't want to do any extra damage, do we?" He knew the child probably didn't understand his blabbing, but he was still in shock.

"Fucking Peter. He better be running for his life right now."

And then he heard a noise from downstairs. He dropped Harry back in his cot and unholstered his wand. As silently as he could – and without looking at James' body he descended the stairs. To his surprise it sounded like the intruder was sobbing. He soon understood why, it was Hagrid!

"Hagrid!" "What are you doing here?"

He patted Hagrid on the arm as the half-giant continued to sob. But then Hagrid looked at him with questioning eyes and as a way of explanation, Sirius said, "Pettigrew was the secret-keeper."

Hagrid nodded as he wiped his eyes. "Who would've thought tha' Peter would do summin' like this." Sirius shook his head. "Who sent you here Hagrid?"

"Professa' Dumbledore did. Said he wan'ed me ter see what (hic) was left of the place."

Sirius nodded his head. "There are…there are survivors tonight Hagrid." Hagrid looked at him questioningly.

"Harry and Harden. Their a bit bruised and bloodied but they'll live." Hagrid nodded at that.

"Professa' Dumbledore said summin' like tha' coulda' happen. He said to bring 'em straight ter him."

Sirius frowned. "I'm Harry's godfather, Hagrid. I'm sure Remus will be back soon, until then I'll keep Harden with me. The only person that should see them now is a Healer. "

Hagrid shook his head. "Yer an Auror Sirius, shouldn' ye be doin' summin'?" Sirius looked at him confusedly. Then he remembered, someone had to go after Peter. It was like someone had filled him with hot lava.

"Fuck this!" He snarled. "Hagrid take the boys; I'm going after peter."

He was about to exit the house when a horrible thought occurred to him; what if Peter tried to attack them midway? It was slightly far-fetched but nonetheless a possibility.

"You know what Hagrid? Take my bike, I won't be needing it anymore." It would get them to Dumbledore quicker. Hagrid nodded his great shaggy head. And Sirius was running out of the house and apparating back to the East Finchley area.

Four Hours Later…

Peter Pettigrew ran swiftly between the throngs of people as a large shaggy black dog chased after him. They reached a slightly less crowded area and Sirius wasted no time in lunging at him. The two wizards tumbled down together, but Peter managed to wiggle out.

He jumped to his feet and yelled, "James and Lily, Sirius!" "How could you?!"

"The fuck are you – " Sirius Black took a good look at the young wizard in front of him. Slightly chubby, with wavy blonde hair, short and dressed in a striped black and red t-shirt and jeans. And then he looked back up to the beady little brown eyes that screamed "Evil".

"BOMBARDA MAXIMA!" Sirius was thrown clear, as the spell hit the ground below.

He staggered to his feet, and as the smoke cleared, he realized he was drenched in blood…that wasn't his. But it belonged to the numerous dead bodies scattered around him. He looked around, still dazed, no sign of Peter.

He thought he heard a crack of apparition, and he couldn't help the laugh that bubbled in from him. That's how the fist Aurours found him, laughing his head off.

But Sirius Black could not believe that he had been tricked, of all people by Peter Pettigrew.

A few hours later…
Black Manor, Yorkshire.

Arcturus Black sat down on his desk, dried tears still crusting his face. He wondered how his life had come to this. He glanced at the Daily Prophet. The bold headlines read, "Sirius Black – " Arcturus looked away. It was too much.

He looked at the many-paged letter in front of him and with a sigh, he reached the letter opener.

The last Will and Testament of Charlus Linfred Potter, Former Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter.

Read the front of the parchment.

Next to a beautiful Castle on a hill in Stamford, Lincolnshire. Two elves levitated the body of their late master into a grave.

A few seconds later one of the elves popped into the nursery to tend to the Castle's newest addition, a beautiful boy of about one, with emerald green eyes and a scar on his forehead.

-oh and also, if any of you are interested in seeing the finished beach house, it's on my Tumblr, a design I got off Pinterest.